Best Integrated, period.

The Acurus line of Direct Input Amplifiers when properly modded with the finest components available would give all those Big Boys mentioned above a slap in the rump.ACURUS DIA-100/DIA-100MkII/DIA-150.Ask any technician/audiophile who has owned and or replaced a few parts with this amps.The amps simply beg for a few better components to sing.and sing they they surely can.Not the best but can surely hang with the best.

Rogalog statement above looks to be the best I have read regarding the best integrated ever,the Great Mark Levinson 383 Integrated.Why would a great marquee like Mark Levinson come out with an integrated at all if it was not a true great integrated.Lets put it this way and if you were smart and loaded and had a couple of Rolls Royces in your garage and needed a do it all SUV or station wagon with the same performance as your main cars,wouldnt you buy a Rolls or Bentley station wagon if they ever made one.Ten or twenty years from now your ML-383 would still hold its own both in sonics and re-sale value down the road like gold does.The other contenders would have turned to ????. I have heard the ML-383 and it was surrounded by the best preamps and amps ever made in the same showrooms and it stood its ground very very proudly.

Having been at this great hobby we all share here since the early 70s,and I have very good ears I may add having them checked out at least every year no less, I have always found it very very beneficial to evaluate equipment that just arrived in your listening room early in the morning before your first cup of coffee,or tea,or drink,whatever you have first thing in the morning.Water is fine.If you continue listening on and tend to forget about your coffee/tea,then my friends you have something good going on there.If you just keep on listening till lunch and totally skip breakfast all together than you REALLY have something extremely musical happening in your space.Imagine the singers and musicians serenading you live from your open window early in the morning,would you even think of coffee or breakfast?It is a fact that upon just getting up from bed we are in a state of mind that that anything not sounding right,or correct,will reveal itself very faithfully to our ears and brain and we just cannot tolerate distortions early at the start of the day.However very well reproduced music with a very good system,like live music,is accepted as something good by the brain and we just continue on and dare not turn it off early in the morning after a short time listening.If your system is any good at all at keeping itself turned on early on,then you can honestly say,YES!,I have something going here.Next time around when evaluating your next Integrated amp,try this and you will end up with what You and only You will say is the best for your system.Believe me it never fails. Try to visit your dealer first thing in the morning and have your coffee after the visit.You may just walk out with a great integrated to enjoy the next morning Cheers!